It could be the catch of a lifetime. William Westmoreland escapes his unfulfilling Rhode Island existence by traveling to Florida twice a year and chartering Mike Jansen’s fishing boat to take him out on the Gulf. The crystal-blue water and tropical scenery isn’t the only view William enjoys, but he’s never made his move. A vacation romance just isn’t on his horizon.

William Westmoreland escapes his unfulfilling Rhode Island existence by traveling to Florida twice a year and chartering Mike Jansen’s fishing boat to take him out on the Gulf. The crystal-blue water and tropical scenery isn’t the only view William enjoys, but he’s never made his move. A vacation romance just isn’t on his horizon.

Mike started his Apalachicola charter fishing service as a way to care for his daughter and mother, putting their safety and security ahead of the needs of his own heart. Denying his attraction becomes harder with each of William’s visits.

William and Mike’s latest fishing excursion starts with a beautiful day, but a hurricane’s erratic course changes everything, stranding William. As the wind and rain rage outside, the passion the two men have been trying to resist for years crashes over them. In the storm’s wake, it leaves both men yearning to prolong what they have found. But real life pulls William back to his obligations. Can they find a way to reduce the distance between them and discover a place where their souls can meet? The journey will require rough sailing, but the bright future at the end might be worth the choppy seas.

Why you should read it: When is a Happy For Now actually a Happy Ever After? Actually, probably all the time, but especially in a book when it’s written by a great writer like Andrew Grey. After all, who can predict the future, as in “ever after”?

Mike is a former Navy man who has captained destroyers but is now the captain of a Florida Gulf Coast fishing boat named Decisions. Mike makes his living taking people who want to catch fish out into the gulf. For Mike, it’s work, but it’s also fun. At home, away from the water, Mike lives with his mother and his 10-year-old daughter, whom he loves dearly. For the past few years, a particular fisherman, William, has booked a day’s fishing twice a year. Mike notices William as a man, but also as a fun customer and always looks forward to his visits.

William is an executive with his father’s firm, where they produce boat engines, among other things. He is following in his father’s and his grandfather’s footsteps, but it isn’t what he would really like to be doing. With his socialite mother and his demanding father, he doesn’t feel like he has any choices in his life. They’ve dictated what he studied, where he lives (with them) and where he works. The only thing William seems to have for himself are those fishing trips.

So, those are the two main characters, but there is another main character in this story, and his name is Marshall. Marshall is a capricious hurricane that arrives during one of William’s fishing days. After hurrying back to shore and buttoning up the boat as much as they can with little notice, William finds he is stuck when his rental car won’t start. Mike takes William home, and as the saying goes, one thing leads to another.

They part ways for several months, but then a chance to be together again falls into William’s lap as he is asked to find a captain to test drive a multimillion-dollar yacht with his company’s newest engines on board. Go ahead. Guess who William asks to perform this duty. This is my favorite part of the story, as William and his guest/captain and the captain’s daughter are treated to the finest luxury while they cruise the Caribbean. Then someone drops in on their fabulous vacation and things change. Or do they? And what about when the cruise is over? Do they have to go back to their normal lives without each other? Can Mike come out as a gay man in his small southern town without losing his business? Will William become just another executive who plods his lonely way unhappily through life to retirement?

This is a romance that is sweet, with a little bit of angst and family interference, but it is one you will enjoy tremendously. I can’t recommend it highly enough. Enjoy!

Becky Condit is a widow, mother of three and grandmother of 10 who reads all kinds of books, but her go-to comfort books are romances. She reads and reviews more than 250 books a year, so you won’t often find her without her iPad in hand, but when you do, she’ll probably be gardening or spending time with her family.